The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a control plane redundancy system used with information handling systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems such as, for example, switches and other networking devices, are sometimes managed through an abstraction of the networks high-level functionality via software-defined networking (SDN) techniques. For example, in network topologies for SDN-based systems, each switch has a full data plane capability and a limited control plane capability, and the switches communicate with each other using a data plane protocol while communicating with a control system via a control plane using a control plane protocol. In the event the connection between a switch and the control system is lost, then both the switch and the control system will determine the other is no longer part of the network topology and both will cease communicating with the other. However, both the switch and the control system may remain active despite the lost connection, which can result in the switch being underutilized due to the control system believing the switch is no longer part of the network topology.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a control plane redundancy system.